Will's First Shave
by Loveless6825
Summary: Will has grown a beard, but it's itchy and he wants it off. However, he has no idea how to shave. It's quite fluffy; try not to choke. It has been edited, so thanks to anyone who pointed out the mistakes...I really appreciate it.


**I've taken it upon myself to edit this thing...it's been a long time since I even looked at it; I was horrified to see the bad sentence structure and other mistakes. To whoever has put this in their favorites or done other nice things, thanks.**

Will's First Shave

"What, pray tell, are you doing?" Halt asked finally, looking somewhat annoyed. Will continued to tug at the beard he was starting to grow. He didn't like having a small beard; it itched, it got in his mouth when he didn't want it to, and he always had a rash when he woke up from where it had rubbed up against his skin.

"Wishing that this blasted hair was gone," Will replied calmly. He was still absently tugging at it.

Halt resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He, for one, was fine with having a beard; he thought it looked quite nice on him. Will obviously didn't appreciate his. "Will, have you ever thought about shaving the beard off?"

Will looked a bit puzzled. "Of course not. Why, Halt?"

"Never mind," Halt said shortly, irritated. Will felt the need to persist with the subject a bit more, even though his mentor's tone left no room for further words on the topic.

"You don't think it looks all right on me, Halt?" Will said, hurt. He was disappointed: the thing he wanted most was his mentor's approval on his beard. After all, he was just trying to look like Halt. But...he didn't think it was very fun so far.

"It looks fine," Halt said, "but what matters is if you like it. And it seems that you don't. Why don't you just shave it off?"

"I haven't really thought about it," Will admitted. "And I wanted to look like you, Halt."

Halt's eyebrow shot up, but secretly he was amused. Gilan had tried to do the same thing Will was doing, while he was Halt's apprentice. Just like now, it hadn't worked out very well. Gil had shaved it off as soon as he'd gotten sick of it.

"Why didn't you ever shave yours off?" Will was continuing. He paused. Then, in a near-whisper, leaning in slightly as if paranoid somebody would hear, he said: "Did Lady Pauline tell you it looked good?"

Halt's amusement was gone. "No," he snapped. "Whatever gave you that idea, Will?"

Will merely shrugged. "I just wondered if she had," he said, positive that he was correct. He paused again. Halt feared the worst. But he was relieved in a few seconds. "Do you own a razor, Halt?"

Halt nodded wordlessly, taking a sip of coffee. Will smiled. "Good." Then his smile faded and he inquired, "How do you shave?"

"You don't know how to shave?" Halt asked, a note of incredulity in his voice. Will, silent, his eyes wide with fear that his mentor would scold him somehow, shook his head. Halt blinked. He hadn't expected this. "Well," he said. "We'll just have to show you how, then, if you don't know."

The boy's face cleared. "Really?" he said, a grin breaking out. Halt was the only one he trusted to touch his face with a sharp item. Others, not so much. Especially not Horace, whom he still hadn't seen since their fight at the Harvest Festival.

"Really," Halt said gravely. He nodded. "Didn't Horace or the other boy—George?—ever shave? Couldn't you have learned from them?"

"Horace never shaved in front of anybody," Will replied. "And George doesn't shave yet, I don't believe. Nobody ever showed me how before."

Halt sighed in defeat and stood up, gesturing for Will to do the same. The boy followed him out of the room, questions spilling from his mouth as if from a fountain. "Does it hurt? I won't get cut, will I? Are you going to help me? Why don't you shave if you have a razor? Will—"

"Be quiet for a moment," Halt told him, searching through the drawer at the bedside table. "Found it," he said triumphantly. He held it out to Will, who took it carefully by the blade side. Halt corrected him quickly. He went to get a damp towel, a bowl of warm water, soap, and a small mirror.

"Right," said Halt, showing Will the proper way to hold the razor to his face. "Now, you want to work at a steady pace, not too fast, but not too slow either. Move the razor in long strokes, and every time wash it off in the warm water. Wash your face with the water every few strokes. Be careful when you reach your nose," he advised. "A man looks strange without his nose."

Will bit his lip and nodded before beginning. Halt helped him regularly, especially near his nose, for one looks strange without a nose. Finally it was over. The beard was gone, Will's face felt like it had been peeled, and most of the bleeding stopped after a moment. Halt studied his face for a moment, and then nodded once. He walked out of the room while muttering, "Going to catch cold in his face now."

Will grinned, and followed him to where he was sitting down and drinking coffee again. He was happy with the results.

Halt got a few days of peace about the shaving process until one day Will said as a prank, pinching his nose from the next room: "Halt? Is there any way to put a nose back on?"

Halt let his coffee drop to the floor and darted out of the room.


End file.
